Ironheart is the latest armored hero to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Marvel Comics fans have known about her for years. Riri Williams made her debut in comics in 2016. She is a supergenius who, in kindergarten, decided she wanted to be a scientist and set out to prove she could be just as good as Tony Stark. She ended up deciding she wanted to be a hero after Riri’s stepdad and her best friend Natalie were killed in a drive-by shooting. This led to her building her first suit of armor when she was only 15, and then she received Tony Stark’s blessing after using her armor to help save lives.
While Ironheart and Iron Man became close allies in the comics, and he helped mentor her, she maintained her distance and proved to be a great hero without his assistance. She has even done several things that prove that she might be a better hero than Iron Man ever was in Marvel Comics.
1) She Made Her Armor With No Money Or Experience
Riri Williams said something in the Ironheart Disney+ series that angered many fans. She claimed that she was better than Iron Man because she built her armor without any money or wealth. While Iron Man built his armor in a cave without the use of his money or wealth, he knew what he was doing because he had the best education and training growing up as a Stark. He had an advantage that people like Riri Williams never had. On the other hand, Riri had to fight for everything she ever got. She couldn’t afford the tech that Tony had access to once he got back home to build all his advanced armor. Riri Williams in the comics had nothing and built everything from scratch. However, she did have to take some shortcuts by “borrowing” equipment to do so from M.I.T. Regardless, she built everything on her own and taught herself without a wealthy education.
2) Ironheart Fights For The People
Iron Man is an Avenger who has saved the world numerous times throughout his life. He fought in both Civil War and Civil War II for his beliefs, whether he was on the side of good or not. There is no discounting that he is a hero. However, Tony mostly fights for personal reasons, and most of the decisions he makes are thanks to his immense ego. Ironheart also has a major ego, but hers is very different than Tony’s. While both of them always believe they are right and will fight to prove it, the reasons they are heroes differ. Tony fights because he feels the world needs him as a hero. Riri fights because she wants to save people like her friend Natalie, who was killed in a drive-by shooting. Ironheart fights for the little people on the streets, while Tony has his eyes on bigger threats.
3) Ironheart Wants To Create Technology To Help Others
Tony Stark comes from a family of weapons developers. He was kidnapped, injured, and forced to become a superhero because he is obsessed with making weapons for a profit. Even now, as he wants to put that behind him and no longer be involved in that business, it was still how he lived his life for many years. Iron Man, at its core, was a living weapon, and that is all Tony wanted to create. Riri Williams has a much purer heart. She is Ironheart because she wants to help people. However, she wants to use her intellect and brilliance to create things to make the world a better place. She even wanted to use the Ten Rings to find a way they could be used to help humankind, rather than use them as the weapons they always were.
4) Ironheart Withstood The Temptation Of The Ten Rings
The Ten Rings in comics were Mandarin’s weapons. For many years, the rivalry between Iron Man and Mandarin was a battle between science and magic, with the Ten Rings equipped with magical powers. In Iron Man (Vol. 6) #24, Ironheart convinced Tony Stark to let her keep the Ten Rings because she wanted to figure out how they worked and use them for the good of humankind. Stark agreed because he trusted her, but he also knew that the Rings could corrupt, as they had corrupted him before. However, Ironheart has one up on Iron Man because she was able to withstand the ghostly force of the Ten Rings as it tried to control her. She also knew when it was time to get rid of them, and she did so in Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #14 with the assistance of the X-Men’s Forge.
5) Ironheart Is More Loyal To Her Friends
If there is one thing that Iron Man has proven over the years, it is that no one can really trust him. In Civil War, he demanded that all heroes register with the government, or he arrested them and locked them away in a Negative Zone prison. In The Crossing, he betrayed the Avengers when he proved to be a pawn of Kang for years. He often lies to his friends and allies, which is why he remains one of the most disliked Marvel Comics heroes among many readers. Ironheart is socially awkward and struggles to communicate with others, but when it comes to her friends, she is completely loyal. During the Outlawed event, she quit to protect her family, but when the government came for her friends in The Champions, she suited up and fought to protect the people she loves.
6) Ironheart In No Way Wants Authority Power
If there is one thing that holds Iron Man down when it comes to him being a genuine hero, it is his thirst for power. This is one reason that he was so unlikable during Civil War, because he demanded that everyone follow him. It remained true when he became the head of SHIELD, and only the most powerful, like Thor, were able to cut him down to size. However, what makes Ironheart a better hero is the fact that she in no way wants to be in charge of anything but her own life. She wants to fight to save people’s lives and create technology that can make the world a better place to live. While Tony Stark wants to be in charge, Ironheart just wants to be a good hero, and that is what makes her better than Iron Man.
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